Scarborough Athletic boss Kittrick frustrated by Basford defeat

Scarborough Athletic boss Steve Kittrick was left frustrated as a string of missed chances cost his side in a disappointing 3-1 defeat at Basford United on Saturday.

Boro switched up to a 3-5-2 system and Kittrick admits it took his side time to adapt as hosts Basford controlled the first half, taking a 2-1 lead in at the break as Michael Coulson hit back just before the half-time whistle.

"We switched things up a bit and changed the system around and it took the lads a little while to get going and adjust," said Kittrick.

"It's important not to become predictable as teams have just matched up against us in a lot of our games as we'd played a 4-3-3 up until now, so we wanted to freshen things up.

"Despite us taking our time to get into it, it was incredibly frustrating to come away empty handed.

"We must've had about 20 or so shots in the second half and at the moment we're not converting our chances and that's costing us.

"Had we taken a few of our chances, we'd have come away with something from the game. That happens though and we have some of the best strikers in the league, things will click into place and we'll start finding the back of the net again sooner rather than later."

The Boro chief struggled to pick out an outstanding performer among his ranks, but nevertheless wasn't too disappointed with his side's efforts.

He added: "I don't think looking back on the game there was any one player who you'd say stood out, but I thought we performed quite well as a team, we just can't seem to score.

"We should've had a penalty in the second half, and the penalty they were awarded was ridiculous, but we can't control the referee and it was missed chances that cost us in the end."

Saturday's 3-1 defeat was Boro's second on the bounce, following their 2-0 loss against Gainsborough at the Flamingo Land Stadium last weekend.

Boss Kittrick admits things aren't quite going Boro's way at the moment, but is preaching patience going forward into a busy period for the club.

"Every team goes through it, it can happen at any stage of the season and ours is coming at the moment.

"It's important that we remain patient and remember where we've come from. We have come into a higher division and there are no easy games at this level, and there's plenty of football left to be played."

Boro hit the road to take on in-form Farsley in the Integro League Cup on Tuesday night, before a huge league encounter at home to Hyde United next Saturday.

"The games are coming thick and fast, and there's plenty of football to be played yet," said Kittrick.

"We're operating with a squad of 19 players, so it's hard to completely change things up, but we'll maybe rest one or two at Farsley and give a couple of other lads a run out.

"Hyde is a big game, but they're all big games. Everyone wants to beat Scarborough Athletic, we're a scalp and that makes things tough.

"But we have to remember we have 40 points and are right up there among the top sides at the moment."

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